Crystal Hartman

I am a studio artist living in Urbana, Illinois with deep roots growing from Southwest Colorado.

Through drawing and sculpture techniques rooted in endurance, I share multi-media art pieces informed by the natural world, movement practices, and traditional womens work. Gathering shapes, patterns, and common threads to create experiences of embodiment and reflection, I am interested in harmonious living and the richly textured path within it.

I grew up in a family of stonecutters and jewelers who delighted in all creative practices. I carve primarily in sustainably-harvested beeswax and cast in reclaimed fine metals. I was taught by my father, John Hartman with guidance from Kate Wolf, Veleta Vancza, Gary McVean, and Bill Anderson. I work with natural, high-grade stones, heirloom gems, and alternative materials ranging from grasses to recycled television screens.

In all work, the concept of beauty fascinates me. I studied color theory, painting technique, and human anatomy as apprentice to Stanton Englehart and Dr. Ronald Ritz. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, I studied sculpture and printmaking with Emily Bivens, Chris Lavery, Clint Cline, Zane Wilson and drawing with Sally Elliot.

Recipient of an UROP research grant for Femininity: Context and Connotations, I traveled to Argentina where interviews with vast and varied groups of locals opened my eyes to generalizations, ideals, and the power of the stories we tell. This began a lifelong inquiry into perspective and relationships.

I draw with pencil and pigments, install sound and video, fiber pieces based on endurance, and host community events. I believe that artwork is best when it is alive - living in the dark corners of our homes and living quietly and vibrantly within community.

I work with and donate to The Prairie Rivers Network, Defenders of Wildlife, Project Coyote, Women for Wolves, Wilderness Workshop, and Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots you can join me and know that a solid percentage of every purchase will go towards these amazing defenders of the wild and educators leading the way towards a beautiful shared existence… if you would like for 10% of your purchase to go to a specific organization on this list, please make a note with your purchase and it will be my honor and pleasure to make that happen.

Current Community Project : Art Direction + Facilitation at The Cohen Exhibition Workshop

@CrystalHartmanArt

CV (PDF)

BIO

Crystal Hartman (b. April 9, 1983, Durango Colorado, USA) grew up behind a jeweler’s bench at the mouth of a canyon in southwest Colorado. She began carving wax, cutting stones, and forming metal as a young child. After apprenticing with artist Stanton Englehart, she earned her BFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Recipient of a UROP grant for academic research on Femininity in Latin America, she cultivated a reverence for community and conversation. Hartman filmed professional and amateur skateboarding in Spain (2005-7), studied site specific craft in Thailand (2008), and founded/directed Durango Open Studio (2009-11, Durango, CO.) In 2011, the artist received the Merwin Altfeld Memorial Award for Storytelling in the Arts from the National Watercolor Association. Her artwork has exhibited at the CCCB, Barcelona Spain, the National Palace of Culture, Sofia Bulgaria, BMOCA, Boulder Colorado USA, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada CO, and the Denver International Airport, Denver CO, among others. Her work can be found globally in arts and literary publications, as album art through independent labels, and book covers from Oxford University Press, London, and A5 Publishing, Madrid. Crystal Hartman Art Jewelry, sculptural jewelry designs carved of sustainably-harvested beeswax ethically cast in fine metals, have been featured in Art Jewelry Magazine, and exhibited at locations such as the Lilstreet Art Gallery, Chicago IL, Kathleen Sommers, San Antonio TX, and through the Society of North American Goldsmiths. Hartman currently lives and works in Urbana Illinois and offers workshops on Light and Alternative Photographic Processes each spring through The Farms: an Allerton Folk School. 

Current Memberships

ACC . American Craft Council

CLCU . Craft League of Champaign Urbana

SNAG . Society of North American Goldsmiths

JEWELRY MAKING PROCESS

In the Lost Wax Tradition, I create elegant, strong, earthy stand-alone pieces and stackable stories. From beginning design to completion, each piece may take several weeks to months to finish, and is always tested for comfort and wearability as well as quality and character.  

Harmonious living and conscious creation are my core values, I am committed to listening, learning, and growing.

Custom Design Inquiries? Please be in touch

Custom Designs begin at $500 and include personal consultation.

Materials:

Wax - primarily working in sustainably-harvested, local beeswax

Reclaimed sterling silver, bronze, gold, and palladium

Heirloom metals and stones

Sourced Stones -natural, post consumer, dead stock, conflict free and/ or mined and cut here in the USA.  Most of the turquoise that I work with is cut by my father and brother -John Hartman and Dillon Hartman- in Durango Colorado.